Improvement in alarms for railroads



C P MORTQN ALARM FOR RAILROADS.

' No. 47,215'. PatentedApr. 11,1865

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

c; P. MonroN, oFcHEsrEE, PENNSYLVANIA..

IMPROVEMENT IN ALARMS FOR. RAILROADS.

Specilcation forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,2l5, dated April 11, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, U. P. MORTON, ot' Chester, in the eonnty ot' Delaware and State ot"l The object ot' my invention is to produce an unavoidable and effective alarm or warning to the engineer and conductors of a train of railroad-cars inmotion ot' an open condition of the draw 7 ot' a distant bridge either at night or day or during a thick fog.

1t consists, substantially as hereinafter de scribed, ot' an adjustable arm having elastic fingers, and 'so connected with the distant bridge that in opening the draw thel said arm will be turned into such a position across -a part of the track that a passing train will necessarily impinge and vrub or rattle along against the said tin gers or their eqnvalents so as to produce the alarm or warning required.

ln the drawings, A B represent the railroadtrack; U D, the bridge-draw closed, and E a passenger-car as'inoving toward the bridgedraw and impinging. or rubbing against the fingers of the arm F. The arm F is 4adapted to turn horizontally upon the top ot' a post, g, which is tixed vertically in the ground and at a short distance from the one side of the track, and also at a suncient distance-Saya mile or less from the draw C l). Fixed to the side ot' this post Gr is a strong spring, H, the upper endet which is connected by a chain or rod,

I, to a projection, j", which is fixed on the inner side of the arm F, so that the said spring will at all times tend to draw the arm F around, over, and across part ot' the said track. Opf posite to the parting-joint of the draw C D another verticalrpost, K, is erected, and upon its upper end a strong bell crank, L, is secured in ayertical position, and so as to turn freely .upon the pivot which secures it iu-the post, and one ot' its arms, l, is connected to the pro- `)'ection f of the arm F by means of a-strong rod orwire, M, supported in eyes loosely upon a seriesof posts, NN, erected atsutlicient dis tances apart along near the one side ot' the track AB and between the posts G and K, While the other arm, l2, of the said crank has attached to it a` pendent rod, 0, which has "a hook or loep at its lower end, which is adapted to catch over the 1,)rojecting end ot a strong pin or bolt, P, which is fixed horizontally in the lower part of the post K- when the draw is locked. .Between this post K and the partingjoint of one side of the draw C D an adjustable stop, Q, is secured 'by a pivot, so that it lnay be either turned horizontally aside from the joint to allow the draw to be opened in the direction of the dotted lines ai y, Fig. 101 be turned so that its inner end will abut against the said joint and keep the. draw irnil y closed,

as occasion may require. The opposite end ot' this stop Q, tits with its side against the side ot' the post K when the draw is locked` by it as described, and receives through it thebolt or pin l?, so that the latter will project just far enough through the said `stop to afford a sut'- tieient catch pin for the hook or loop on the lower end ot' the pendant 0, and thcpendant l.) is of such a lengthjthat' when it is attached over the hook or pin the arm F will have been drawn parallel with the track or out of reach ofthe train. The lingers in the end of the arm F consist ot'a 'series ot' separated, slender, elastic strips of tough wood or delicately thin plates of spriugsteel, which will readily yield to the pressure of the passing window-frames or other projecting part-s of the sides of the locomotive and cars, and without breaking the windows cause a sntteient noise or rattling to quickly alarm or warn the engineer and conductors that the draw is open, andtherel'ore.` 'that the train should be stopped.

Operation: When the draw U D is closed and locked by the stop Q, as described, the

. loop ot the pendant O must be slipped over the projcctin g end ofthe bolt or pin P, which operation ot' the bridge-tender will draw l'orward and secure the arm F in a position parallel with the track A B, and therefore out ot' reach of a passing train, andbefore the draw`-v C D can possibly be reopened thesaid loop ot' the pendant 0 must andwill be pushed olf of the said pin or buolt l by the necessary nievement of the stoprQ in releasing the partingjointof .the draw', and consequently the trac- -tion of the spring II will` t-nen immediately bring the arm F into a position to be impinged l against bythe passingtrain, and thus produce the alarmor warning required. ,f

' This alarm, if kept in proper order, will e'eetually deprive the 'engineer and conductors of a train of any excuse of thel nature of inefficiency in the alarm to render them fully aware offan open draw; and, being entirely elevated above the ground, it is vnot liable to be injuriou'sly eeeted by snow and ice on the latter, and' the, working parts or joints may be easily protected from rain by capping the supporting-posts.

As a Weight suspended by a'chain attached to the 'arm F and passing over pulleys will e'eet the same result as the spring H, I do not intend to confine myself to the use'of thespring 1 for the purpose; neither do I intend to confine myself to the precise const ruetion and arrangemeut of-the different devices described for con'-V .Having fully described my improvement 'and show-n its utility, what I claim as new therein, of my invention, and desire to secure- -by Letters Patent, yis-A The combination of the -arin F, spring H,

projections ff, with the rod M and bell-crank` L, so constructed and arxanged as to operate in connection with the draw-bridge 0D in the manner and forthe purpose herein described.

.p lo. P. MoRroN. Witnesses:

`BnNJ. MoRIsoN, W. H. MomsoN. 

